Letters to the Editor: August 1 – 7, 2019

When Will the City of Falls Church Do Its Job?

Editor,

Referring to the much ballyhooed Founders Row, it has been some months so far and it appears the builders are having trouble with their plans. Specifically, every week they dig up at least one lane of Route 7 aka Broad Street. It takes about one working day to dig the hole, a second day to do whatever they are doing, and a third day to fill the hole back in. For two days last week, they excelled and had two lanes of Broad St. closed all day. Traffic control is provided by friendly workers who, of course, are not employed by the city and the pavement reflects that.

Anybody who has ever done construction knows that water, sewer, gas, electrical, phone, and cable lines (speaking from experience — usually a few that are not documented) run under the streets, roads, paths, byways, and highways. A major part of any competent plan involves researching these vital lines before you start planning so you don’t have to redig the same stretch of pavement many times. Ideally, you only dig once. That level of success is rare, but any reduction reduces the hassle and also the cost.

Is there anyone in the City of Falls Church staff who does any review of the building plans before the work? To rephrase, is anyone in the City’s employ looking at the construction plans and timing at all?

Henry J. Gordon

Falls Church

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